That Mitchell And Webb Look: Our Favourite Sketches
It has been over ten years now since comedy duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb first hit our television screens with their fantastically funny That Mitchell And Webb Look sketch series.
Already known via their Peep Show fame, Mitchell & Webb were a vital ingredient to the mid/late noughties BBC TV sketch show era that included the equally funny Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller in The Armstrong And Miller Show as well as Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse in Ruddy Hell It's Harry And Paul.
It's hard to believe that it has been so long since Mitchell & Webb's ingenious sketches were aired directly to our screens on those glorious Friday nights in the summer. Fortunately, if you are still having heavy nostalgic memories for those times, then you are in luck. We have made a list of our top four favourite Mitchell And Webb Look sketches accompanied with a YouTube video of said sketches! The show won The Comedy.co.uk Award for Best British TV Sketch Show in 2006, so you know it must have been hilarious! Enjoy!
Football... Football... Football!
It's time for "FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL" screams David Mitchell to the television cameras. Although filmed back in 2008, this is the perfect sketch for modern day football and maybe even sport in general - the never-ending over-hyped pantomime that it has become.
In Series 2, Mitchell portrays a highly excitable and enthusiastic television football presenter striding the pitch whilst hyping up the upcoming football games in the football season. "On Sunday - LIVE it's the battle for the North West as Shrewsbury take on Macclesfield in a match already being described as 'On This Sunday,' whilst The Giants of Charlton play host to the Titans of Ipswich..." shouts Mitchell before quipping: "making them both seem normal size..."
This is a simple yet perfect sketch that is funny to both lovers and haters of football given that although it is quite obviously exaggerated, the clip is hilariously close to how football is genuinely advertised today. Mitchell teases "old scores will be settled at The Dell, scored like 1-0 and 2-1 that have happened in previous years" because, when you think about it, this is all that football really is; football matches and tournaments that are repeated over and over again with teams winning, losing and drawing whilst kicking a ball into a net.
Casino Royale
This is the memorable Series 3 sketch in which Robert Webb portrays a spy at the casino - but they're gambling not in the traditional manner. Unfortunately, it has proven difficult to source this sketch in full, but you can see a part of it above.
The scene plays out in what looks like a luxurious casino that you would see in a James Bond film, yet it turns out to be a not so usual casino, instead it is a fun-fair casino. Rather than raising the stakes at a roulette wheel, poker table, or by the slot machines, the rivals challenge each other to Whack-A-Rat and 'Guess the Fruit Cake Weight'.
The sketch even contains a scene where the secret agent - Robert Webb - asks a beautiful woman to "kiss his rat-whacker for luck," a quip at the standard double-entendres that are almost always present in James Bond films. The James Bond-esque beauty then provocatively licks the rat-whacker resulting in Webb's character being quite disgusted in what he just saw and wiping his rat-whacker off with the sleeve of his stylish suit.
The Smug Brain Surgeon
The smug brain surgeon was a character played by Robert Webb in Series 3. Webb is at his absolute best when playing any smug character - it just seems to come so natural to him. This sketch is brilliant because the joke is telegraphed so obviously, yet it still ends up being hilarious such is the talent of the duo.
The scene starts with Webb discussing his VERY important job as a brain surgeon at a party with two other party guests. Webb begins by not so subtly informing them that he is not simply a doctor, he is a brain surgeon and he performs actual brain surgery.
"What's the difference between a doctor and a brain surgeon," Webb's character asks, "One's not exactly brain surgery whereas the other definitely is brain surgery" he proudly and pompously states with huge emphasis on the brain surgery part. Webb then goes on to belittle the jobs of the two guests (one is an accountant and one is a charity worker) before Jeff, Mitchell's character is introduced... "Oh Jeff, did they keep you late at the space station?" At this point you can already anticipate exactly what the punchline will be which makes it even more hilarious as the scene continues to build up to the joke's big finale.
Are we the Baddies?
Probably the most well-known sketch by Mitchell & Webb is this one. The sketch comprises of two Nazis out in the field during World War Two. Hans - one of the commanding Nazis played by Robert Webb - takes a phone call to discuss the Allied forces after which the second Nazi - David Mitchell - asks him, "Have you looked at our caps recently?" Hans nervously replies, "What... No... A bit." Before Mitchell's Nazi replies, "They've got skulls on them. Have you noticed that our caps have got little pictures of skulls on them?" Hans does not know what to say before Mitchell asks the question, "Hans, are we the baddies?"
You can watch the full clip above, which gets funnier and funnier the further along it goes. If you haven't seen it, we will not spoil it for you. But just in case you ever find yourself fighting under the banner of a skull just remember, it could be worse, it could be a banner of a rat's anus!